Kayak Building Bibliography

Here is a list of books and other texts related to kayaks, kayaking, kayak design, boat design, woodworking and boat building that may be of interest to anyone interested in building their own kayak.

Across Arctic America :Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition by Knud Rasmussen Univ of Alaska Press; (February 1999) (A fascinating account of a journey across the top of the American continent in the early 1900s. Knud Rasmussen was half Inuit, half Danish and he records the life style of the Inuit people before much interaction with Europeans) Purchase from Amazon

The Aleutian Kayak : Origins, Construction, and Use of the Traditional Seagoing Baidarkaby Wolfgang Brinck Ragged Mountain Press, Camden, ME(A good how-to for making a skin-on-frame kayak in the traditional Aleut way.)Purchase from Amazon

Baidarka by George Dyson Alaska Northwest Books, Seattle, WA, 98107(A richly illustrated book covering the history of Aleut kayak development, George Dyson's adventures and philosophy and his method of building kayaks using aluminum tubing and nylon.) Purchase from Amazon

Building the Adirondack Guideboat: Wood Strip Reproductions of the Virginia By Michael J. Olivette and John D. Michne Nicholas K. Burns Publishing ISBN 0971306990 (A complete explanation of the process of building a guideboat using the strip-built method. The authors specifically desired to reproduce the look of the original boats so use so use fasteners to hold the strips to permanent ribs.)Purchase from Amazon

Building the Greenland Kayak By Mark Starr Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT ISBN 091337296X (A well written book devoted exclusively to building a Greenland style skin-on-frame kayak. Mark uses his experience teaching people how to build these boats to give explicit instruction yet provide advice for reasonable modifications.)Purchase from Amazon

Boatbuilder's Manual Edited by Charles Walbridge Menasha Ridge Press, 3169 Cahaba Heights Road, Birmingham, Al 35243(This book was written for builders of fiberglass white-water kayaks, but it contains a lot of good information about fiberglassing, materials, and resins that is applicable to strip-built kayaks.)Purchase from Amazon

Build-A-Boat: A Beginner's Guide to Simple Boat Construction (Article: Building Bob's Special by Ted Moores) WoodenBoat Books, Box 78, Naskeag Rd. Brooklin, ME 04616(Short article with pictures of building a canoe. A very consise description of building a cedar strip/epoxy canoe.)

Building a Strip Canoe by Gil Gilpatrick DeLorme Publishing Co, Freeport, ME, 04032 (ISBN: 0-89933-026-6)(This is the book I learned about strip-building from. A good no-nonsense introduction to strip-building.) Purchase from Amazon

Building Skin-on-Frame Boats By Robert Morris Hartley & Marks; ISBN: 0881791911(A good discussion of building a variety of skin-on-frame kayaks as well as some other boats.) Purchase from Amazon

Building Your Kevlar Canoe by James Moran McGraw-Hill, Inc., Customer Service Dept., Box 547, Blacklick, OH 43004 (ISBN: 0-07-043036-5)(A good resource for building a canoe with Kevlar (or fiberglass) without any wood in the final product) Purchase from Amazon

Building the Greenland Kayak - A manual for its construction and use.by Christopher Cunningham Ragged Mountain Press, Camden, ME (ISBN: 0071392378) (A clearly written instruction for building a skin-on-frame kayak based on the style of the Greenland Inuits.) Purchase from Amazon

Canoecraft by Ted Moores and Merilyn Mohr Camden House Publishing, North York, Ontario, Canada, M2N 6S7 (ISBN: 0-920656-24-2)(A book about strip building canoes. Provides a different perspective on the building process.)Purchase from Amazon

Canoe Paddles - A complete guide to making your ownby Graham Warren and David Gidmark Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (ISBN: 1-55209-525-8) (A comprehensive instruction for making a wide variety of wooden canoe paddles with a short chapter about kayak paddles)Purchase from Amazon

Contributions to Kayak Studies by E. Y. Arima Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0M8(An assortment of information investigating the construction and performance of traditional kayaks.)Purchase from Amazon

Eastern Arctic Kayaks - History, Design, Techniqueby John Heath and E. Arima University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks (ISBN: 1-889963-25-9)( Probably the most comprehensive work on the technology and techniques of the traditional kayaks of Greenland and eastern Canada you will ever find.)Purchase from Amazon

Hand Tools - Their Ways and Workings by Aldren A. Watson Lyons & Burford, Publishers, New York, NY 10010(A good reference for how to use and care for hand tools.)Purchase from Amazon

Illustrated Guide to Wood Strip Canoe Building by Susan Van Leuven Schiffer Publishing, Ltd (ISBN: 0764305379)(Illustrated with a large number of color pictures. Quite comprehensive depiction of the building process.)Purchase from Amazon

Inuit Kayaks in Canada - A Review of Historical Records and Construction by E. Y. Arima Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0M8(A review of historical records with much information about Inuit kayaks, their design and construction.)Purchase from Amazon

Introduction to Naval ArchitectureBy Thomas C. Gillmer and Bruce Johnson Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD(A beginners text book with all the detail most people will need.)Purchase from Amazon

KayakCraft: Fine Woodstrip Kayak Construction by Ted Moores WoodenBoat Books, Brooklin, ME 04616 (ISBN: 0-937822-56-6)(A good book describing the process of building a kayak using wood strips. Ted is the author of CanoeCraft which is the best book about building canoes using the same method. A good compliment to my book "The Strip Built Sea Kayak")Purchase from Amazon

Kayaks of Greenland : The History and Development of the Greenlandic Hunting Kayak, 1600-2000 by Harvey Golden White Horse Grocery Press, Portland, OR 97215 (ISBN: 0978722108)(This tour-de-force is the definitive guide to the historic kayaks of Greenland. Harvey has traveled around the world measuring and documenting skin on frame kayaks built in Greenland, built replica's of many of them and presents what he learned in this book. While it is expensive, if you are interested in kayak design, this is a valuable reference work.)Available directly from Harvey Golden Purchase from Amazon

Kayaks You Can Build - An illustrated guide to plywood constructionBy Ted Moores and Greg Rössel Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (ISBN 1-55297-861-3)(Journals and recommendations for building several different kayaks using the stitch and glue method. This book does not include any plans for boats, but shows a variety of different ways to build plywood boats. A good resource for anyone interesting in Stitch and Glue construction.)Purchase from Amazon

Qajaq - Kayaks of Siberia and Alaskaby David W. Zimmerly Alaska State Museums, Div. of State Museums, Dept. of Education, 395 Whittier Street, Juneau, AK 99801(The book written to accompany an exhibition of traditional kayaks. Provides a good background about Alaskan and Siberian kayaks.)Available directly from David Zimmerly Purchase from Amazon

Rip, Strip, and Row: A Builder's Guide to the Cosine Wherryby J. D. Brown and John Hartsock Tamal Vista Publications 222 Madrone Ave., Larkspur, CA 94939 (ISBN: 0-917436-02-4)(Describes building a row boat using the strip built method)Purchase from Amazon

Sea Canoeing by Derek Hutchinson A & C Black, London, UK("Canoeing" in English means "kayaking" in American. I have an old copy and I know they have updated it, maybe the translated the name. This is a good reference for learning how to handle a kayak after you've built it.)Purchase from Amazon

Seaworthiness: The Forgotten FactorBy C A Marchaj Tiller, St Michaels, MD(This book is aimed at sailors, but if you ever wondered why a kayak stays upright of flips over, this book will will tell you. While being very detailed about an esoteric subject, it is still easy to read. )Purchase from Amazon

Ships and Boats of the North, Volume 1, Skinboats of Greenlandby H. C. Petersen The National Museum of Denmark, The Greenland Provincial Museum, The Viking Museum of Roskilde ISBN 8785180084 (An indepth exploration of the kayak culture of Greenland. Includes detail of traditional kayak construction as well as kayak related tools and clothing. Also information about umiaks.)Available online from Atuagkat and Neriusaaq Bookstore. You can try purchase from Amazon

The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America by Edwin T Adney & Howard I. Chappell Smithsonian Institution Press, 470 L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20560(Primarily about birchbark canoes, but some good info about traditional kayaks. This is the bible for information about Native American boats.) Purchase from Amazon

The Bombproof Roll and BeyondBy Pul Dutky Menasha Ridge Press, 3169 Cahaba Heights Road, Birmingham, Al 35243(A well illustrated manual for learning to do the Eskimo roll. Not a required skill for sea kayaking but a damned useful one.)Purchase from Amazon

The Encyclopedia of Wood (Revised Edition)by The Forest Products Laboratory Sterling Publishing Co. Inc, New York(The name just about says it all. This book contains all the technical information you will ever want about wood.)Purchase from Amazon

The Epoxy Bookby System Three Resins, Inc., P.O. Box 70436, Seattle, WA, 98107(Written by System Three with their resins in mind, but still a very good source for general epoxy knowledge. If you have not used epoxy or fiberglass before, this book is worthwhile.)

The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction - Wood & West Systems Materialsby Gougeon Bros, Inc. Box X908, Bay City, Michigan 48707(Written by the makers of West Systems epoxy, again with their products in mind. This a large reference with a lot of information about building boats of wood with epoxy.)Purchase from Amazon

The Kayak Shopby Chris Kulczyki Ragged Mountain Press, Camden, ME(Instructions on how to build a stitch-and-glue plywood kayak. Some information here may be transferable to a stripper.)Purchase from Amazon

The Strippers Guide to Canoe Buildingby David Hazen Tamal Vista Publications, Larkspur, CA 94939 (ISBN: 0-917436-00-8)(An older strip-built instruction book with some information about building kayaks. Good for a second or third opinion.)Purchase from Amazon

Objects for Use: Handmade by DesignEdited by Paul Smith(Museum exhibition catalog book from the American Craft Museum. Includes pictures of my Night Heron as well as other beautiful handmade items.)Purchase from Amazon